Lost In Thought
by Exodus Penguin
Summary: Locke takes Luke out to the jungle to help him with something mysterious.
1. On The Right Side of Things

'Lost In Thought'

Chapter 1: "On the Right Side of Things"

It was a calm, sunny afternoon in the park. The grass was still and the sky a perfect blue. The sun shone brightly, excreting its rays of warmth on the people outside. There were small children on the swing sets, and their parents chatted with each other while watching over them. Others were walking their dog or jogging along the cement sidewalk surrounding the perimeter of the small park. Lucas was sitting on a small wooden bench away from all the others. He was alone, basking under the hot summer sun, contemplating whether he should leave or not. He couldn't take it anymore. Leaving seemed like the only option available. He didn't know if he would regret it or not, but that evening, Lucas was on a plane to Los Angeles.

------------------

It had been one month on the island since the plane crash, but to the survivors it felt like a lifetime. Lucas was one of these survivors, who had flown from Australia to Los Angeles, or at least intended to. Sometime during the flight, they had crash landed on this seemingly deserted island. Everyone had panicked at first, but they seemed to be settling down now. Luckily, there had been some hope of escape recently. A raft was being built on the island using bamboo, wire, metal poles, and anything else that could be found in the general area that could be of use. A glimmer of hope flickered somewhere inside of Lucas. Deep down, he knew no one would be coming for them, but a raft might actually work. He helped some of the others gather the materials needed to build it. However, during the night, the raft had caught on fire and perished, no matter the efforts of those who tried to stop it. Instantly, the glimmer of hope subsided, and Lucas was left with only his thoughts.

Two days had passed since the burning of the raft. After some thought and consideration, Lucas decided that he would try to mingle and get to know the people around him. Mostly, he liked to keep to himself, but he couldn't take the loneliness much longer. He figured they would be stuck here for a while, anyway, so he might as well get to know the other occupants of this island before he became depressed and more alone. He got up and scanned the general area of the beach, where he spent most of his time lately. Some people were sitting on the sand, trying to take it easy, while others were busy accomplishing something they thought could be useful to their survival on the island. As he walked along the beach, he noticed a pretty young girl with blonde hair, sprawled on the sand and trying to get a tan. The person she was fond of, as Lucas had gathered recently, was an Iraqi man who was handling maps and papers of different sorts. He also noticed some people who had made (or were making) a kind of 'shelter' for themselves during rainstorms or harsh weather. Lucas kept on walking until he reached the opposite end of the beach, where the sun didn't shine as bright and the sand was much cooler. Here, he came upon a white male sitting in the sand, gazing out into the clear blue depths of the water beyond. He appeared to be in his mid-fifties, with a shiny, bald head. He looked calm and collected, from what Lucas could tell. The man was dressed in a dirty white t-shirt and a pair of worn out blue jeans.

"The name's Locke," the man said suddenly, glancing Lucas in the corner of his eye. He had a warm, smooth voice. It was startlingly pleasant.

"Well, nice to meet you, Mr. Locke Sir," Lucas retorted awkwardly, caught off guard by the sudden greeting.

"No need for the 'Mr.' and 'Sir' stuff. Locke is fine."

Lucas tried to think of something to say in return. He had wanted to meet other people, but he didn't know what to say to them when he initially got to know them. This was something he hadn't been expecting. Luckily for Lucas, Locke, as he called himself, wasn't done speaking. Lucas was grateful for this. He didn't want to make a bad first impression by making himself look like a fool for not saying anything.

"What brings you down to this part of the beach, young man?" Locke asked, trying to break the ice.

"I was just wandering around and wanted to meet some other people. I've been getting pretty lonely and bored over there all by myself. I thought it might be nice to come and see other survivors. By the way, my name's Lucas," he added, forgetting that he never introduced himself. "You can call me Luke, if you like," he added.

"Okay Luke, you're saying that you're bored on the island lately. Do ya' wanna come and help me with something?" Locke questioned, awaiting a response from the young man. Locke had not known what Luke would say. They had just known each other for about a minute or so, but it had been a perfect opportunity.

"Sure, I'd gladly help," Luke said at last, with the slightest amount of nervousness in his voice mixed with an eager and excited tone. The truth was that he was a little scared of going to help this guy he just met with whatever it was he wanted, especially with nobody else knowing about their little escapade. However, he was anxious to find out what it was Locke had in mind.

"Great," Locke replied. "Follow me."

------------------

Locke led the way, past the beach and into the jungle. There were trees all around them, green and fresh with life. Their branches fell low surrounding them, as if they were reaching out for something just out of their grasp. The sun was blocked out, only a few rays of its golden existence visible in the green wonderland, illuminating only the surrounding area. It felt damp and the tiniest bit gloomy. Luke followed the strange man warily, twigs and fallen branches snapping beneath his feet. It seemed like they had been walking a long way now and Luke was getting anxious and restless, not to mention tired.

"We're almost there," Locke announced, as if he were encouraging Luke to keep going.

After a few more minutes, they came upon a small clearing. They pushed past the remaining leaves in their way, which opened up to reveal a small area where the trees seemed to widen out, making it a perfect space for what they were now looking at. A large cabin made of solid oak wood was built right in the middle of the enclosure. It could almost be referred to as a house, due to its large size, complete with a window and a door. The front of the cabin faced the right side of the two men. Lucas stood in awe when he first noticed its presence.

"I was out hunting about a day ago when I came across this place," Locke said. "I tried to open the door, but it is locked shut. The window is much too small to go through, so I need your help to open it."

"How could _I_ help?" Lucas asked questioningly, still thinking about what to make of the cabin in the jungle.

Locke expected the question sooner or later.

"I took a further look around and I noticed a pile of large logs lying over there. They were probably extras when the place was being built," Locke said in response while pointing to the right side of the cabin, north of them. "Luke, together we can lift one of the logs up and strike the door with the butt end, hopefully knocking it down, so we can get inside."

First, Lucas was confused. Apparently Locke had wanted them to charge at the door with a big log. He had seen it done in old movies, where lots of knights used the same technique to break down its enemy's door, infiltrating the opposing castle. He never thought it would work on a cabin in the jungle, with only two men. The very thought itself was outrageous. His second impression was that Locke was crazy. Why would he want to go through all this trouble to get in the cabin? It probably wouldn't provide much of anything helpful to them. It had long been deserted, from what he could tell. But a little spark inside of Luke wanted to find out if anything was inside, too.

"Okay, show me where the logs are, Locke. I'll help you."

"Great," Locke said. "They're over this way."

Luke followed him past the cabin until they reached the pile of logs. They found a large and heavy one and dragged it back to the cabin. They looked at each other, then at the hut, and finally down to the log. They both reached down and wrapped their arm underneath it, Luke closer to the front and Locke grabbing the rear. With a small grunt, they hauled the log up. Luke glanced back at Locke.

"Ready?" he asked.

Locke nodded. He was unsure of whether his plan would work or not, but all he knew was that they had to get inside the cabin. There was something inside. He didn't know exactly what it was yet, but he knew it was important.

"1"

Locke was ready, holding the log up at his waist. He was intent on making this work.

"2"

Luke held the log in position as he felt the rough bark on his sweaty palms. He tightened his grip, ready for the sudden impact ready to come.

"**3**!"

Both men charged toward the cabin door, log in hand. Instantly, they felt a sudden jolt as the large oak trunk hit the doorway of the large cabin. Luke had braced himself. Locke watched intently. At once, the hinges broke away, the lock was broken off, and the door fell off. They dropped the log and glanced at each other. Locke had a big grin on his face, obviously happy and relieved that his plan had succeeded. He gave Luke a look that seemed to say 'Go on in,' which he complimented with a nod of his head toward the cabin. Luke was wary. He didn't want to be the first to go in and he didn't know what would be inside, but Locke seemed to insist on it. Reluctantly, Luke went first and Locke followed close behind. He walked to the entrance and gasped as he peered inside.

There were hundreds of human bones scattered on the floor of the cabin.


	2. Heat of the Moment

'**Lost In Thought'**

Chapter 2: "Heat of the Moment"

The door of the cabin fell back with a deafening 'whoosh' followed by a crunching of bones as it hit the ground of the small hut. Luke and Locke had not known what the crunching was at the time, but they soon found out when Lucas reluctantly peered inside at the insistence of Locke. At first, Luke didn't know if he was seeing things correctly. Once he got over the initial shock and understood what the bones were, he fell back, not very aware that he was falling, but not quite passing out. He saw the underside of the trees above and the sun, that glorious sun. Locke hurriedly made a quick dash to catch Luke from landing on his back. He swooped Lucas up, and caught a glimpse of the inside of the cabin as he did.

Aside from the bones, the interior was actually fairly nice. There was a large oak table to the right, crudely fashioned out of the same wood that the cabin itself was made. Chairs of the same quality surrounded it on all four sides. On the table were various papers of some sort, scattered about. This table was the only furniture in sight. Toward the left there were suitcases, pieces of what used to be tarp, lots of yarn, and a shotgun perched atop a small counter and mixed among the human remains. These were the only objects Locke had noticed while valiantly coming to Luke's rescue. Contrary to Luke, however, Locke had not shown as much emotion to the bones. He was only the least bit shocked, who couldn't be? But after you've seen a hatch in the middle of the jungle, a giant 'security system' roaming the premises, and suddenly regain the use of your legs, not much can startle you anymore. Reluctantly looking away from the cabin, he looked down at Lucas in his arms.

"Are you okay?" he asked, the least bit concerned with Lucas' well being versus the mystery of the cabin bones.

"I…I…where…?" Luke stuttered, trying to regain his senses. He was totally out of it and very confused. He could see the sun above himself, but it wasn't the jungle sun he had become accustomed to these last few months. It was the sun above the park on the day he made his decision to leave for Los Angeles.

Lucas was an orphan and had never known his real parents. At the age of 5, he had been adopted by the kind Mindleton family. He attended a public school like most other children. After graduating from high school, he attended Harvard, where he had intended to become a lawyer. His intentions followed through, for he did in fact have a career in law.

Currently, he stood in front of the building he knew all too well: The building of Faccet, Crooklyne, and Mindleton. That was him, Lucas Mindleton. A hard-working, all work and no play defense attorney. He was dressed in a dark black Italian suit with a white shirt and navy tie. His blonde hair was combed neatly, his pants were ironed the morning before, he was cleanly shaven, and the suitcase he carried was made of real leather. The law firm in which he partnered was founded some years ago by George Faccet and Felix Crooklyne, along with himself. These other partners were his best friends, previously Harvard law students as well. Together, they had only lost four cases.

As Lucas Mindleton entered the building that afternoon, he hadn't expected what was waiting for him on the other side of the door. George and Felix were there, standing together, with bottles of wine in their hands. They were both dressed extremely casually, which was unusual for two attorneys on a day such as this. Suddenly, Lucas realized what was happening. He knew what they were up to only seconds before they screamed "Happy Birthday, Luke!" and popped the corks off the wine. He embraced the two in a friendly hug and thanked them.

"You guys didn't have to do all this for me!" Lucas exclaimed. "What about work?" he asked as they pushed a cup of the wine in his hand.

"Of course, typical Lucas asking about work on his birthday," George said with a laugh.

"Don't worry, we don't have any cases today, because we're taking you out! It's about time you lived your life!" Felix said.

"Taking me…where?" Lucas was anxious and nervous at the same time.

"Well, we already booked the flights. We're takin' you to Australia, mate!" said George excitedly.

Luke was awestruck. Australia? On his birthday? He didn't know what to think, so he just stood there speechless. He had always wanted to go there, but he never seemed to have the time. Were they really planning on taking him to Australia? He got his answer in the hectic 5 hours that involved changing, packing as much as he could for the flight, and following them to the airport in a hurry. There at the airport, all three friends had boarded the plane that would take the trio to the Land Down Under.

During the week that followed, the three men had stayed in Australia. Unexpectedly, Lucas had found someone he cared about. Her name was Alyssa. They had met at a small park on the outskirts of town. George and Felix were out and about exploring the continent, and Lucas just wanted to take it easy. The lady of his affections, unknown that this was what she would become, was walking her dog on the sidewalk and nearly passed Lucas, who was sitting on a bench nearby.

"Hey," she had said, stopping as she saw his pathetic self all alone. "You look a little lonely out here by yourself."

Lucas, not the man of conversation glory, was not only surprised that someone had talked to him, but didn't really know what to say in response. He looked up at this mysterious stranger. She was a very pretty lady. She had very tan skin, long dark black hair, and a very gentle demeanor, as far as Luke could tell.

"Oh, hello," he said to her. "I just came out here for a little sun and, uh, just to, hang out and…chill, ya' know"

She looked at him and giggled. "Are you from around here?"

Now totally red in the face, Luke responded with a shake of his head to indicate 'no.' "My friends brought me here for a little birthday getaway." Then, without realizing what he was doing, surprising both Alyssa and himself, he asked her out to dinner. Just like that, out of the blue, he had asked her on a date.

From then until the end of the trip, Luke and Alyssa had gone out on 6 occasions and Lucas had been invited into her house once. They had talked about each other's lives, learned more about each other, and finally, on one night, they had kissed, right before he had been invited up to her apartment. Lucas was in love. His friends, George and Felix, had suspected something was wrong when they announced the end of the trip. It seemed so unfair to Luke. Why did he have to leave? He had found the person he may want to spend his life with, and Australia was such a nice place too. The next day, when it was time to leave, Lucas went back to the park where he and Alyssa had first met, and sat down on the same bench where she had approached him. He wanted to stay there forever. In Australia, that is. He certainly had enough money to move, but it didn't seem right. His home was in L.A. He couldn't just abandon his career either. Aware of all these things, he had decided not to stay.

That day he had boarded the ill-fated Oceanic Flight 815, along with George and Felix. Lucas sat in the middle of the plane, while his friends had to board in the tail section. One hour before take-off, they had packed their bags and left the hotel where they had stayed. Lucas fell into a small depression before they arrived at the airport, and didn't say much to his friends as they walked past him to the rear of the plane. All passengers were seated, and the plane left the ground and took off through the blue depths of the sky.

Alyssa had been jogging and walking her dog after she returned from work. Finally, she could go home and relax, maybe even give Lucas a call later at the hotel. She reached her apartment, number 2342, and opened the door. Slipped under the door was a note that had 'ALYSSA' sprawled across the front. She bent down, picked it up, and began to read it as she sat down on a chair in her apartment. Her dog ran off into another room. The note read:

Good-bye my sweet Australian friend. I am so glad that I met you on this trip. As you are reading this, I'm already on the plane back to Los Angeles. I'm sorry that it had to end so abruptly, because it didn't even have much of a chance to begin. I wish you the best. Maybe we will meet again someday.

Sincerely,

Luke

P.S. If it helps, I considered staying.

Alyssa couldn't help but shed a tear as she put the note down.

Approximately 20, 000 miles above her, at that same exact moment, a plane was losing turbulence. The tail section flew off, and fell into oblivion, while the rest of the plane crashed like a meteor onto a South Pacific island. There were 48 survivors.

Luke awoke with a start. His pulse was rushing, he was sweating, and he was panting like an animal. Locke had laid him down on top of the table in the cabin after Lucas had fallen back and passed out. While he had been in his state of unconsciousness, Locke had scourged the cabin. All he had found, however, were the items on the counter to the left, dust an inch thick, the papers he pushed aside to make room for Luke on the table, and the hundreds of human bones strewn about.

When Lucas had snapped back to reality, he wasn't quite sure what was going on. He looked down and saw those all too familiar white remnants and he instantly knew he was inside the log structure. He turned to Locke, who was busy folding up and storing as many of the papers as he could. That's when they heard it: a faint rustling outside in the jungle. They turned to look out the entrance, where the door used to stand. They couldn't see anything.

"What do you think…?" Luke began to ask, but Locke shushed him. Luke jumped off the table and landed on some bones, thwarting his plan to try and keep quiet. Locke followed close behind him as he began to walk out. Locke, however, expertly dodged all the white bones on his way. When they left the safety of the cabin, they saw her. It was so sudden; they both stopped in their place and stared at her. The rugged-looking French lady, Danielle Rousseau, was standing to the left of them. She had a shotgun, quite like the one lying in the cabin, slung around her back. Her clothes were dirty and worn from years of use. She looked at them with a fierce, devilish look in her eyes.

"What were you doing in there?" she asked, deciding to skip the 'how do you do's?' and get right to the matter at hand.

Locke was quick to answer. "How does it concern you?" he countered boldly.

She looked at him with that same glaring look. "I built the place. It is one of my residences on this island, and I don't see how it concerns _you_."

"We're fighting to survive out there," Locke said with a wave of his hand, looking quite annoyed. "Anywhere where there could possibly be supplies is a place we need to look into."

"I see. Well, as I am sure you have found out for yourself, there isn't anything of use in there," said the French lady in a mocking tone.

"No, maybe not, but there _were_ HUMAN BONES, lady!" Luke announced bravely.

This time it was Danielle's turn to look annoyed. She paused, and was reluctant to respond. "I had to do it, they were diseased!" she said exasperatedly. "I had to…I had to KILL them all!"

Luke couldn't help but feel a pang of pity for her. It only lasted a minute, before being replaced by a feeling of 'Dang she must be crazy to kill all these people!'

"You!" she exclaimed, pointing to Locke. "Stay away from me! GET AWAY! The disease, it's spreading! GET AWAY!"

But Locke needed to learn more. "What disease? Who did you kill?" he asked.

"Just get…away…from me!" she said as she pulled her shotgun from around her back and now held it in her hands. "I wasn't afraid to shoot _them_." She pointed her shotgun barrel to the bones on the floor. "I'll have no problem shooting you too! You're all…ill!" She started to aim the shotgun at Locke, who looked extremely calm for the situation.

Luke tried to calm things down on the French lady's side. "Let's just take it easy now…," he began.

Danielle turned to face Luke, the shotgun now bearing down on a different target. "Don't interfere. You haven't been infected yet, but I will still kill you if you get in the way."

Both Lucas and Locke looked totally helpless and incapable of doing much to stop this madwoman. So, they let her speak, and didn't dare interrupt.

"We came here, my colleagues and I, by accident. Our ship crashed and we had to…"

But Locke wasn't listening. His thoughts were someplace else, many years before the plane crash. His life was just starting to look up. He had his own apartment, a new job, a new outlook. So when his short-time girlfriend told him that she was pregnant with his child, it all seemed to fall apart once again. He couldn't support a child! He could barely support himself. It was all happening too fast for him. He had to talk about this with Stephanie, the woman he knew for only a month, and who now carried his baby. They got together to talk about what should happen to the baby, and after many discussions and arguments, he and Stephanie had decided together what was to be done with the child: She was getting an abortion.

"…and so they fell ill with the sickness a short while later and I feared that it would spread. So, I killed them. Somehow, it's back, and that man has it," she concluded, pointing to Locke, again with her shotgun.

As she was talking, Locke had slowly backed up, trying to get to the entrance of the cabin and grab the shotgun inside. She hadn't noticed yet, so he kept on creeping back. He was only four feet away from the opening now, where he planned to dash to retrieve the gun. Three feet, two feet…

It was the day of the abortion. Stephanie wanted to go alone, and Locke was reluctant to oblige. What were they doing? He sat in his apartment, thinking. They were killing an innocent life. A human being that could do so much good in the world would never get the chance to see beyond the womb. John thought about leaving, to go stop her, but he decided otherwise. At the hospital, Stephanie was having the same doubts as Locke. That's why, before they started the abortion, she had decided against the procedure. After she left the hospital that day, she also left town, and never saw John Locke again.

Crunch. Locke had gotten too close and didn't realize it. Danielle, who had been busy talking to Lucas, now turned her attention to the source of the noise. Locke turned so he faced the entrance and ran to the counter toward the left on which the shotgun was perched. He could only pray it had bullets.

Almost 30 years before the crash, Stephanie had left town in the hopes of starting a new life. She was still pregnant at the time, and would be for another two months. After long days of picking a new home, a new lifestyle, and a new job, her water broke. She rushed to the hospital. The nurses were very nice and tried to make her as comfortable as possible. She thanked them, and soon she began having the contractions. A doctor was rushed in. All she could think about was the excruciating pain…and that there wasn't a man next to her to help her breathe, to swear at during the birth, or to cut the umbilical cord when the baby was born.

After Locke had grabbed the gun off the counter, he turned around…and received the unwelcome surprise of being faced with a gun similar to what he himself was holding.

"Don't move," Danielle said. "Or I'll shoot."

She tried to stand as far away from Locke as possible, afraid that she may catch the same virus that had ended in a mass slaughter in the same cabin where they stood now.

Locke didn't know what to do. He couldn't just let her kill him, so he slowly lifted his gun to meet hers.

"Put it down!" she screamed, but Locke didn't listen or hesitate.

Both guns were now pointed at their intended victims. Suddenly Lucas appeared at the doorway.

"Don't let her, Locke! She'll kill both of us!"

At that moment, a finger curled around the trigger of a gun, and a shot was fired. The shot had hit its target.

"It's a boy!" they cheered as the baby was born. Stephanie allowed a small smile to creep across her face, but it didn't last long. She hadn't planned on keeping the baby. She was giving him up for adoption.

After the cord was cut, the nurse asked her what she wanted to name him. Stephanie had thought about it since she knew she was pregnant. She smiled, as she held the newborn boy for the first and last time of her life, and said in a faint whisper,

"Lucas."

**To Be Continued…**


	3. Death Reunion

'**Lost In Thought'**

Chapter 3: Death Reunion

Danielle Rousseau and John Locke were facing each other, both with a gun in their hands. Lucas, unaware of the commotion inside, had run up to the doorway of the bone-filled cabin just when a shot had been fired. The bullet hit its target.

Approximately 30 years before the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, a woman named Stephanie had given birth. The newborn baby boy, Lucas, was sent to an orphanage shortly after he had been brought into the world. He could not be cared for by his mother or his father, John Locke, who never found out he even existed. After being adopted when he was 5, he went to school, graduated, and found his place at Harvard. Here, he met his long time friends George and Felix, with whom he also shared his career with. After traveling to Australia with the two buddies and finding love on the trip, he had abandoned his feelings and boarded the plane that would crash onto a seemingly deserted island.

When Lucas was 15 years old, his birth mother died from cancer. Before dying, Stephanie made a desperate attempt to find her son, but it failed. She spent her last days in a hospital bed, alone. The Mindletons, the family in which Lucas had been adopted into, consisted of a Mr. and Mrs. Mindleton, who could not have a baby for reasons unknown. After adopting Luke, they became a real, true family. Years later, after their son had already moved out, they grew old together and never adopted or raised another child again. Lucas would be their one and only baby.

Alyssa, the woman who Lucas fell in love with in Australia, had married a wealthy businessman. They lived, not happily, but approvingly. The husband would work to pay the bills and the wife would stay at home to keep things orderly. Until the day she died, Alyssa kept the note Luke had written to her. She had never forgotten about him, and she never would. The note would serve as a reminder, but it didn't have to be. Lucas had never left her mind.

Lucas' eyes widened, just as they had on the day he was born. He watched in awe and disbelief as blood gushed freely from the open wound where John Locke had been shot.

Locke had been hit on his right side, just between his shoulder and chest. He fell from where he stood, clutching his wound with the cloth of his shirt. The bones on the cabin floor beneath him crunched and broke, as if they were crying out in pain.

Danielle Rousseau, the French lady, stood above Locke, her shotgun still in her hands. She trembled, subconsciously unaware of what she had just done. Lucas didn't know whether she had planned on making two executions that day or not, so he started to run back to camp on the beach.

"HELP," he screamed, mostly on Locke's behalf, but partly for his own life also.

Eventually, he passed by the stuck-up blonde, tanning on the beach like usual. The name 'Sharon' came to mind.

"Somebody, help!" he yelled, ignoring the blonde who only stared at him as he ran for the cave.

As Lucas neared the entrance to the cave, he saw a group of people coming out to see what all the commotion was about. Among this group was the Iraqi man, the English rock star, the large 'dude,' the doctor, and the beautiful fugitive.

"What's going on?" the doctor asked in response to the cries of help.

"It's Locke, we were out there and she came and then the bang and the cabin and all those bones…" Luke was nervously talking obsessively, not making much sense to the people in front of him.

"Calm down, take it easy, and explain what happened out there." Again, it was the doctor who spoke. Jack, maybe?

"He took me out there to the cabin, but there's no time! Locke has been shot!"

At Luke's mention of this, the small crowd went silent for a moment. Kate, the fugitive, gasped and put a hand to her mouth.

"Dude, that sucks." It was Hurley, the rather large guy, who broke the silence.

"Where is he now?" asked the Iraqi man hurriedly, referring to Locke. What was his name? Luke didn't have time to think about that right now, though.

"I'll show you! Quickly, follow me!" Before they went anywhere, however, the doctor spoke for the third time.

Jack turned to Charlie, the DriveSHAFT guy, and told him to bring Sun over. Her herbal remedies may be useful, he thought.

As Charlie ran along to find the Korean woman, Jack went back inside the cave to get the medicine he may need to use on Locke. As he was rummaging through his bags and carts, Kate walked in looking quite distraught and very stern.

"I'm coming with you," she said, a statement rather than a question.

"Kate," Jack began, not looking up from his bags. "There's nothing you can do. It would be better for you to stay here." He decided against adding 'You're just going to get in the way.'

"If what that man says is true, Locke's life is in danger! He's going to need all the help he can get!" she said angrily.

Finally, Jack looked up at her. He paused, started to say something, and finally, albeit reluctantly, he said, "Fine, but be ready when Charlie and Sun get here."

As if on cue, Charlie arrived with Sun closely following behind. In her hands she was holding many types of leaves, seeds, and plants which she must have had to scoop up in a hurry.

"Okay," Jack started after finishing his medicine gathering. "Let's go follow that guy. Hopefully it's not too late."

After Charlie, Sun, Jack, Kate, and Sayid left the beach and followed Luke into the jungle, they all began to wonder how much longer it would take to reach their destination. Charlie was following behind the group, not really aware of why he was going. In front of him was Sayid, who kept up with Sun and Kate. For what seemed to be the first time, Jack was not leading the group. He was right behind Lucas, who was trying his hardest to remember the location of the cabin.

BOOM! Without warning, they all heard a huge explosion very close by. They saw a large cloud of dust in the near distance and heard the clink clink clink of things falling to the ground.

"Let's go!" yelled Jack, who ran in front of Luke and toward the noise. The rest followed behind. Finally, they reached the clearing which led to where the cabin was standing (or more precisely, where it had been standing before it had been blown to bits.)

Pieces of the oak wood were scattered everywhere. Along with the wood were all the bones, also in pieces. Next to the cabin, lying open-eyed and almost breathless, was John Locke. The French lady had vanished.

"Bloody hell!" stated Charlie. "What's happened here?"

Jack, however, immediately rushed to Locke's side. He pulled off the small pack on his back, which held all the medicinal supplies he could fit. Sun followed, carrying along the various herbal remedies she brought.

The doctor ripped open Locke's shirt. There, on the right side of his chest, was the gaping bullet wound. Jack was all business. He started to take out what looked to be large metal tweezer-like pliers, feeling for a pulse at the same time.

"Thank God," he thought aloud. "He's alive."

After peering at the wreckage all around him, which was no doubt caused by the whacko who is Danielle Rousseau, Lucas scurried over to where Locke, Sun, and Jack were gathered together. The doctor was busy inspecting the gash and stopping the steady blood flow, while his beautiful assistant was forming a type of relaxant from the leaves she carried. When the herbal medication was finished, Sun gently opened Locke's mouth and placed the concoction inside. His rasping breaths had slowly become more normal and relaxed, and soon it seemed as if he were sleeping.

Jack, who had finished staring at the wound and temporarily stopped the flow of the blood, grabbed the tool that would be used for removing the bullet. Very gently, he inserted it in and expertly dodged everything in the path to the bullet. He pushed the two ends together, and there was a soft cling as the bullet was grabbed. Jack slowly retracted it with the same expertise he used to grab it. Sun was trying her best to stop the blood that had wanted to flow again..

"We must hurry because his state of unconsciousness will not last long," said the very nervous Korean woman.

Lucas suddenly noticed that the rest of the people who had come along with them were standing behind him anxiously. Knowing that there was nothing left to do, Jack fumbled through his bag once more and took out the needle and thread. Coincidentally, this was the same thread that had been used on him when he had first met Kate. After disinfecting the wound, Jack carefully put the string through Locke's skin and began the process of sewing the injury up.

It was Charlie who broke the silence. "Uh, guys, I'm just gonna take a stroll over…" He continued with what could only be described as the suppression of vomit. He did as he said and left…very quickly.

The wound had been sealed, and Locke was slowly coming to his senses. Jack was smiling.

Before sitting with the others, Kate asked, "Is he going to be okay?"

"I hope so. It seems very possible right now," Jack replied..

The situation was very good indeed. The bullet had missed all major arteries, been removed without a hitch, and the gash was sewn up very nicely. It was looking very good for John Locke.

"I think you're going to be okay," Jack was telling him. "Everything is going very well."

Locke, who was still lying on the ground amidst the ruin of the cabin, looked up at Jack. "No," he replied casually, his voice strangled and slightly hoarse. "The island wants me gone. The island always gets what it wants, Jack."

A chill crept up Jack's spine. "As a doctor, John, I'm telling you that you should be…"

"Fine, yes. A man of science will never change his ways."

Throughout the whole conversation, Luke had still stood near Locke. He was looking, listening, wondering. Charlie hadn't returned after he left during the sewing stage. The others, all but Sun and Jack, had sat in a group near the far left side of the cabin, and were discussing matters unknown to Lucas. Occasionally, they would come over and see how Locke was doing.

Locke spoke up again, after Jack's silence. "Let me talk to Luke. I need to tell him something."

Jack looked a little surprised, but nodded and joined the others. Sun followed closely behind. Now, it was just Locke and Lucas together. Luke knelt down to talk more closely with Locke.

"I don't want you to think it was your fault," Locke stated. "Because of what happened to me."

Luke nodded solemnly, if not awkwardly. He did, in fact, consider this conversation to be _very_ awkward. What was he supposed to say to that?

"I want you to take these, too." Locke ruffled through the inside of his shirt and after a few minutes, produced many yellowed and old parchments. They were the papers he had taken from the cabin, before Danielle Rousseau arrived at the log house and started some commotion. Locke handed them to Lucas. Lucas looked at them questioningly.

"Why would you give these to me?" he asked Locke.

"I'm not going to be around much longer. It's my time to go."

"But Jack said…"

"It doesn't matter what that doctor said!" Locke said, fuming. "The island wants me gone!"

Luke couldn't help but think that Locke was becoming as crazy as the French chick. How could he know that he was going to die? After all, Jack said he would get better and heal quickly. What was there to worry about? How would the island have anything to do with it? What would make Locke think the island was going t-…?

Rhaaaaaaaa-Whooooooooooooooo. The noise was deafening, a mix between siren and foghorn. It was a noise they knew all too well: The Security System.

Jack was the first to respond to this new crisis, as was expected.

"Sayid! Take the group back to camp, quickly! GO!" he yelled, as he got up and ran toward Locke and Lucas.

"Thank you," Locke said to Lucas, before Jack got there. "For everything." He smiled, with a mysterious gleam in his eyes.

Jack came sprinting over. "Help me get him up," he told Luke. They succeeded in getting him to hold on to their shoulders.

"Just go!" Locke screamed to them. "Leave me here, otherwise we'll all be dead!"

As he spoke, the thing behind them was getting closer and trees were being uprooted as it went. They were fighting a losing battle, and they all knew it.

"Can't you walk and keep up?" Jack asked Locke, as they planted him on his feet. He crumpled and fell, unable to walk. Immediately, Locke realized something was wrong. He knew the worst had happened: He was paralyzed once again.

Both Lucas and Jack didn't know what to say or do, and the trees were being destroyed faster and faster. Jack hated to do it, and he knew he would regret it, but he did something no one would ever believe he would do. He picked Locke up and deposited him close to the trees and turned to leave him alone, with the thing steadily approaching him.

"I'm coming back for you! I won't let you go! YOU CAN'T DIE!" Jack screamed, on the verge of crying.

"Don't tell me what I can't do," Locke said with a smirk, as Jack and Luke turned and left him alone. There was the clink clink clink and clank clank clank of something coming from the creature or machine. In less than a second, a large metal chain shot out from nowhere and attached itself to Locke's helpless body. It retracted with another set of clinks, and disappeared in a cloud of large black smoke. It took Locke with it.

Later that night, back at the beach when everyone was safe, Luke sat by the small fire that was burning. He was all alone, which was no surprise to him or anyone else. Eventually, he took out the papers he had hastily shoved in his pockets. He was tempted to throw them in the fire, but decided against it at the last moment. Without so much as a glance at them, he threw them back into his pocket.

After the danger of the Security System was over, Jack had returned to the place where he had left Locke. He had found nothing and no one there, of course. He came back, feeling every bit guilty.

He informed the other survivors of what had happened. Kate broke out in a fit of tears.

"Oh Jack," she said through her sobbing. "What are we going to do?"

In his last moments, before being swept up by the thing in the jungle, John Locke knew the absolute truth. About Luke. About Jack, Kate, Sun, Hurley, Sawyer, Michael, and all the other survivors. About himself. About the island.

Almost everyone was mourning that night.

Perhaps if Luke had known that he had just lost his real father, he would have mourned too.

**To Be Continued…**


End file.
